#advice for writers

[novlr]

Don't be afraid to use your character's name!

To avoid repetition, new writers will often resort to descriptions like "the tall woman," or "the dark-haired man", which breaks up narrative flow and reads as unnatural. Don't over-describe, when just a name will do.

#nanowrimo #writing quick tips #writers #creative writing #writing #writing community #writers of tumblr #creative writers #writing inspiration #writeblr #writerblr #writing tips #quick tips #character development #writing advice #advice for writers #writing tip

[piffany666]

Writers! Here's some advice

If your re reading your work and aren't sure If something sounds right or could be phrased better

Just imagine it being read in the voice of Jonny Sims

If it sounds weird THEN you change it

Trust me this works I know I do it!

#writers #writerscommunity #writers on tumblr #advice #advice for writers #jonathan sims #jonny sims #the magnus archives #magnus archives #magnus archives jonny sims #slay the princess jonny sims

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

hello! i checked your blog and couldn’t see anything but i apologise if i missed it! do you have any tips on writing regret? for example character a does something to upset character b and now character a is dealing with the aftermath of that

Tips on How to Write Regret

Characters make mistakes, but sometimes it can be difficult to write how they're feeling in the aftermath of those mistakes. Here are some tips and tricks on how to write regret!

These are what I personally try to take into account when writing regret, and I definitely can't cover everything, so feel free to add in your own tidbits of advice!

1. Measure the Regret Based on the Mistake (and your character!)

Regret is a spectrum. It ebbs and flows, rising up to be absolutely suffocating at some times and fading into the background at others. Depending on the mistake your character made and the way that your character personally deals with the knowledge of making such a mistake, their regret is going to differ in intensity.

The reactions of your characters to regret are an incredible way to make them more three-dimensional--especially when the regret (seemingly!) doesn't match the mistake.

Why are they so apologetic and remorseful over something as simple as breaking a mug?

Why do they not seem to care at all that a civilian has become collateral damage?

A character's supposed overreaction or underreaction to certain things can be a great source of tension between your cast.

Just be sure that an overreaction/underreaction to a situation matches your character's personality...or, if it doesn't, make sure the moment counts!

A reader is going to be incredibly jarred if the normally stoic character breaks into tears over a mistake, or if a normally emotional character is cold in the face of a tragedy, so you'll want to save these moments for points of high tension or importance!

2. Pace Your Regret Carefully

Sometimes regret isn't as simple as an apology and resolution. Regret can linger, which is why it's important to pace your character's regret carefully if it's prolonged throughout the story.

If your character's regret is coming from an unresolved argument with another character, you may want to avoid dragging the argument out in a dramatic, constant unwarranted miscommunication kind of way; many readers have started turning their backs on the miscommunication trope, so be warned! Instead, you can have it simmer and fester rather than exploding in bursts, forcing the characters to come to terms with this wall between them as they try to rebuild their relationship.

(Also, make sure you don't completely eliminate apologizing from the equation! Sometimes an apology and resolution can be better for your plot than a cycle of miscommunication; there's nothing more potent than the big "I'm Sorry" scene!)

If your character's regret comes from past mistakes that can never be corrected, you may want to explore the healing process, and how certain people cope with long-term regret.

3. Some Symptoms of Regret

Rapid or unsteady heartbeat

Shaking (hands, legs, etc.)

Chills

Insomnia/Fitful sleep

Rumination

Ruthless criticism of oneself

Perfectionism/high expectations

Crying

Embarrassment/shame (and all the things linked to that: i.e. face feeling hot, wanting to hide, wishing you could melt into your shoes)

Avoiding talking about the mistake

Constantly going over the mistake in their head

Short temper from stress

Defensiveness

Denial

Headaches

Resentment

Queasiness (since regret and guilt are linked to anxiety, they're often described as "a pit in your stomach" or "a bad feeling in your gut" so play around with ways to talk about this feeling)

At times, your character may forget about their regret if they're occupied, which is why regret often hurts the most when they're alone with their thoughts. Either that, or another character brings it up or there is a trigger of some kind to remind them of their mistake.

4. Ways that People Cope With Regret

Therapy/talking about it with others (the healthiest way!)

Refusing to think or talk about it at all

People pleasing and approval-seeking behaviors/attempts to make up for their mistake

Inability to say no (especially to someone they've wronged)

Convincing themselves that they were in the right

Over-apologizing or refusing to apologize at all

Turning to alcohol or drugs

Hope this helped, and happy writing!

#writing #writeblr #writing tips #writing advice #writing help #creative writing #writers #tips for writers #advice for writers #help for writers

[writerystuff]

ADVICE FROM A MASTER

"You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different worlds on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write."

– Annie Proulx

#writers #writing #advice for writers #love of words #writing comes from reading #read more #Annie Proulx

[erraticprocrastinator]

A personal anecdote that I think might be helpful for others

A reminder to all writers (and everyone else) to be kind to yourself and try not to compare yourself to others. I was in such a horrible rut of burnout and writer's block at the start of this year that I thought I'd be lucky to manage my school work, let alone anything extra, and I felt absolutely awful and somehow guilty about it. As of September, I've found a new fandom, branched into new genres for the first time and have completed my longest story to date. Turns out my mind needed time to rest and recuperate from the craziness my life has been for the past few years and I needed to allow myself to slow down for that to happen. Hindsight is 20/20. So yeah, don't beat yourself up if your writing isn't going the way you'd like it to, and don't be discouraged by what you see others achieving. Chances are they've gone through something similar, most of us have, we're all human. I know it's easy to tie your self-esteem to your productivity, especially if you're anything like me (a neurodivergent mess), but trust me, the best thing you can do is give yourself grace. You never know when things might take a turn for the better.

#writeblr #writing community #writers #fanfic writers #writers of tumblr #writing mood #writing motivation #writing positivity #writers supporting writers #support #ao3 writer #writing #writing advice #advice for writers

[breaniebree]

#advice for writers #writer problems #writing for myself

[maddipinkkitty]

Why isn’t this story working? Three Questions to ask yourself:

-Do I want to write this? yes, I know it may sound weird. But many of my writings that weren't good were often that way because I just wasn’t passionate about it, or I put some perimeter around it which made it less fun. Asking this is a good way of finding the purpose of writing it and can be broken down from there.

-What am I missing? Sometimes I write scenes that just feel....blah. Not working. When encountering this question, it’s usually because I forget to interact the other characters besides the main ones when they should be doing something. Vague, yes, but can be thought-provoking.

-Where do I go from here? Another issue I can have? Running out of outline material, leaving a chapter to feel dead. If the writer doesn’t know where to go next, the reader sure as hell isn’t either. Purpose is again important here. What will the characters want next? What plot point is going to happen next? How will it affect the characters? Knowing a way that is logical and utilizes the characters the best can help ease the blah-ness of a story.

#writing #writbelr #i'm a writer #writer problems #being a writer #writeblr #spilled ink #writing tips #personal advice #writing advice #l writes #writer #tips for writing #tips for writers #advice for writers

[manicpixiedreamboots]

How to write your book Step 234

Remember that little ditty you were writing once? That experimental poetry you were unleashing your emotions through?

Get it Published.

That's right. Nothing will light a fire underneath you like accomplishing goals! If you're anything like me the only reason you really want to write a book, is to get it published. Now I'm no expert on publishing, you'll have to do a google like I did. But I found a small company that helped me publish a book of poetry.

Evidence: Kraken by Anna (Span) Streatfeild

Once you have one Actually Published piece of writing, it will bolster your confidence. Invest in yourself. Even if you don't already have an audience, even if the only copies you sell are to your partner and your mum... at least you have a book published!

Look at you go you little Author!

You got this! Keep writing!

#writing #advice for writers #writing advice #amwriting #published #get published #i published a book #omg i published a book #i'm an author now! #look at me fly! #just keep swimming

[kestalsblog]

Things to Keep in Mind While Writing Poetry: for "Pretentious Poets"

(Long Post)

Let's start this off with an important reminder. In poetry, we should never assume "I" or any first-person pronouns are the same as the poet/author. They relate to the speaker of the poem, who may or may not be the poet. The speaker is like a characer in a story. With that being said, be prepared for many readers to conflate the two no matter what - and let's be honest, many times you do intend the "I" in poems to be you, the poet.

In poetry, there is a tendency to meditate on philosophical concepts, right? And something interesting often happens when we meditate on the meaning of life, the nature of man, etc., etc. We get big egos. We get pretentious and think we have all the right answers and start blaming everyone else, developing a "me vs. them" mentality even if we don't mean to.

This can lead our poems to sound pretentious, preachy, or more arrogant than we intend. In attempting to condemn what we see wrong and rewrite reality to mach our own ideals, we forget that we too are often responsible of the same vices of which we accuse our fellow human beings.

This habit can lead us to do many harmful things in poetry, including but not limited to the below:

Imposing our own thoughts on other living things (including animals, which are definitely not sharing our same thoughts and perspectives). I recommend reading "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop if you want a fantastic example of a poem that uses an animal to talk about human ideas and then by the end appropriately lets it go. But this one can be super terrible in some cases. Remember those wretched people who tried to claim slaves were happy because they would sing in the plantation fields? Yeah, never assume you know what another person is thinking and never impose your thoughts on them.

Using the suffering of people we know to make a point. Example: you might write a poem about a loved one's death to stake a claim about the unfairness of the world. Well, don't forget that you are writing about a real person. Make sure you do that person justice and don't just use them as a springboard or a symbol. Your loved one is MORE than a symbol. Much more. You might be so caught up in your heightened emotions, you don't even realize. But no one is just a symbol for your poem! Yes, suffering can be included in poems. But should it be romanticized at the cost of another human being?

Positioning yourself as the know-it-all saint, God's mouthpiece. Preacher Poet. "Look at all these people and all the ways they have ruined the world! Let me teach you the truth!" Well, bud, take a look in the mirror. I bet you've hurt someone else. I bet you've contributed to the destruction of the environment. I know you don't want to come off as holier-than-thou in your poems. This can lead to the below issue too.

Ignoring all the bad things to save face. You know that Facebook friend you have you're super jealous of? The one who's always posting flawless pictures of her super-amazing family while you're miserably scrolling along, wondering how anyone can be so happy. Like those white-teethed people on Facebook, perfect, sugary-saccharine poems about good ol' you start to give more cavities than joy. You're not the perfect FB person in real life, so don't be that in poems. Not saying to air all your dirty laundry for the world to see, but a good reader can point out fake-cheer. There's an opposite way to go, too (see below).

Competing in the trauma/oppressed Olympics. "I am the most hurt person alive. Everything that has happened to me is the worst thing ever and no one understands." I don't think I need to elaborate much on this one, but open your mind while writing and remember the plight of others as much as your own. Many people do understand and poetry can be a beautiful way of connecting to other people and sharing our truths. We love to write about our trauma because it helps us work through it in a healthy way, but we shouldn't diminish others' pain to do this.

Assuming you know everything. Spoiler: you don't. No need to keep reading your poem. One of the best parts of poetry is its inquistive nature. Poets and readers can ponder a question together, and what is more intimate, more lovely than that?

All this is to say that poetry requires a kind of self-awareness and empathy some other forms of writing don't. It's personal. It's both private and open. Can you get away with the above if you're an amazing, self-aware poet? Sure. Can you break the rules and write a satirical poem, purposely positioning yourself as a pretenious a-hole? Yeah. But the issue is that a lot of beginning poets are making these mistakes very genuinely and might be a little horrified to realize how their poems come across to some readers. I believe in the goodness of most people deep down.

Anyway, stay mindful, poets.

[P.S. No, I don't know everything either! I think tip and advice articles can start to sound know-it-all themselves. I just compile thoughts and ideas I've gathered and have learned from others along the way that I find useful :) We're all learning, right? I'm just really passionate].

#writeblr poetry #writeblr #writing community #writers on tumblr #writing #writing advice #writing tips #advice for writers #poetry #poetry tips #poetry advice

[nexfox-art]

For all writers out there, I just found out from personal experience that getting hit in the throat, even lightly, is very fucking uncomfortable. Breathing becomes immensely difficult because it feels like your esophagus is closing in on itself and you kinda gotta take sharp in and out breaths. Also, just forget about talking for a long while. And your chest / lungs will feel sore

Edit: my throat is still sore the next day

Edit #2: three days later, it's still sore

#writing #writing tips #writing advice #took one for the team #tips for writers #fight scene #writblr #writerscommunity #writer things #im writing this for y'all with literal tears in my eyes #advice for writers #how to write #how to write a fight scene #you're welcome

[novlr]

How do you set a scene without overusing visual descriptions?

Practical Tips to Show, Don’t Tell

Show, don’t tell is probably the most common writing advice any author will ever receive. Instead of explicitly telling readers what is happening or how characters are feeling, showing allows them to experience the story firsthand. It’s good advice, and important for writers to take to heart, but sometimes it can be difficult to get the balance right. Here are some practical tips to show, don’t tell:

Set the scene

To really immerse your readers in your story, you want them to feel as if they’re in it – experiencing the world you’ve built. By writing about how characters perceive and interact with their surroundings, you’ll draw your readers in.

Examples:

Telling: It was winter, and the water was cold.

Showing: I hunched my shoulders up, burrowing deeper into my coat as my heavy boots crunched through the thin ice forming at the water’s edge.

Keep up the pace

Excess scene description will almost always bring your narrative pacing to a screeching halt. Instead of describing the scene every time, describe your characters’ actions within it.

Examples:

Telling: The lake was frozen and the trees were covered in snow.

Showing: My heart pounded as I almost lost my balance on the ice beneath my feet. I ducked and weaved my way home, dodging the snow that the howling wind shook loose from the treetops above me.

Keep your language descriptive, but simple

When it comes to show, don’t tell, it can be easy to fall into the trap of over-describing. Language that is too flowery or over the top can be just as bad as telling. You want to set a scene, not explain it to death.

Examples:

Too much: The azure-blue lake glinted like diamonds under a glittering sun that shone like a lightbulb in the darkness.

Just right: The sun reflected off the ice brightly, highlighting the deep blue of the water beneath it.

Create a sense of character

The way a character speaks and acts can be the perfect way to show your readers who they are and set a scene without over-describing it. For example, you can use body language, like gestures and posture to reveal a character’s emotions or attitude in a way you can’t reveal by simply describing the scene. Sometimes an intricate description of the location is not as important as how the character feels in the moment

Examples:

Telling: The room was the same as he remembered as a child, with its red carpets, brown-papered walls, high ceilings, and huge wooden table propped in front of large bay windows. It made him anxious.

Showing: He shuffled anxiously to the table overlooking the garden, his mind heavy with the weight of childhood memories.

#writers #creative writing #writing #writing community #writers of tumblr #creative writers #writing inspiration #writeblr #writerblr #writing tips #writblr #show don't tell #writers block #help for writers #helping writers #advice for writers #writing advice #creative writing resources #writing resources #writer resources #writers corner #let's write #learn to write #advice for authors #writing help #writing characters #showing not telling #show dont tell #descriptive writing

[universitypenguin]

Research, I hate it. But how do you do it anyways?

Research! My favorite! 😍 It’s also my IRL job… so, you’ve come to the right place. Pull up a chair.

- - - - - - - - - -

In writing, I usually do the first draft as quickly as possible and then mark out the places that need more detail. For example, if I’m writing something where the character has to use technical skills, I’ll just insert brackets. In the brackets goes this comment in pink letters, so it’s easy for me to spot during revisions: [Character fixes it in a really cool way.]

Then I move on. When I get to the second draft, I’ll go back and research and fill in the details.

Documentaries are a great resource, because it gives a visual representation of what’s being done. Since I have to describe the process when I write this is ideal. Reddit threads are really helpful for POV experience with different activities and emotions. What is it like to live with bipolar disorder? I don’t know. But someone on Reddit probably posted about it extensively. This is a fantastic place for primary source documentation of life experiences. Going out and doing something yourself, if possible, is often the best form of research. For example, if I was going to put a character in a scene that required snow shoeing, I could definitely do that in my area. (Because I don’t want to have to re-learn how to walk, and fall on my face, I haven’t done it myself. However, for the sake of a story, I’d try it.)

User manuals are a fantastic resource for learning about guns, industrial machinery, cars, and electronic devices. I don’t know how a satellite phone works, but if I want to learn, the manufacturer has a guide on their website. I can use that information to make my character look smart. If they’re following the correct procedures to fix a device, it instantly shows their knowledge and readers can draw conclusions about them based on that information.

The comment in brackets method helps me narrow down exactly what needs to be researched for the most efficient use of time. However, I often find researching a topic inspiring. It sparks new ideas and thoughts about the plot. For this purpose, I sometimes just dive in and see where the internet surfing takes me. I also keep a notebook handy for storing random ideas and thoughts that I don’t know how I’ll use, but they seem cool.

If you’re asking about medical research, I work in the medical research field, so that’s quite a bit easier for me than most people.

One good tool for trauma is the ISS scale. It’s an abbreviation for “Injury Severity Scoring.” This is how we calculate someone’s probability of survival after an injury. We can also extrapolate from that data to measure the performance of trauma centers, EMS personnel, and surgical interventions. The scale goes from 1-75 with a 75 being a fatal injury. There are guides to using this method online and descriptions of what each injury is and how they’re weighted. The ISS scale has been used since the 1960s. After decades of improvements and revisions, it’s very accurate. (If you need more details, I can show you how to use it. Or even run the numbers for you.)

Having a background in EMS (and a little SAR experience) is a great help to my writing. I’d recommend anyone who can go get a certification for first aide, basic/advanced EMT (or anything similar) that’s accessible to you.

Being able to do something during a disaster is very empowering. It will serve you well beyond your writing career. I’m sure automation and other technologies will change a lot in the future, but you can’t ask a machine to pry you out of the vehicle that you wrapped around a tree. Paramedics have great job security on that front.

Here are my final recommendations:

Documentaries

A few ideas: DW Documentaries on YouTube. They’re a very neutral perspective because they’re produced by the German state news channel. As an American, I find that they’re far enough away from our sphere of influence to make content that challenges some of my pre-conceived assumptions that come from a lack of international experience.

PBS frontline also has some interesting documentary content. ABC News in-depth is pretty good. 60 minutes Australia tends to be another great show for gathering information. Top Documentary Films is a website that offers a ton of free documentary films. Here is a link to their website.

Reddit threads

This is great for discovering how people feel and think about events that you haven’t seen or experienced yourself. There are posts from individuals in various communities with unusual life experiences and from different cultures and backgrounds. For example, I’ve not been paragliding, but I can read a play-by-play of what it feels like from some daredevil who does it every weekend. This is fantastic, because I don’t want to go paragliding. Like, at all.

Real life exposure

This is only when it’s possible. Real life experience is the best for medical exposure and physical activities.

User manuals

Read a user manual for things you don’t know about. There’s a lot of information on guns that can help you learn the proper terminology. For example, a clip is different than a magazine

You can apply this method to learn a lot about a particular weapon quickly. The Glock firearm has a website with links to their user manuals. I went to their information section and retrieved the user manual. Here’s pictures of some of their diagrams:

Reviewing the manual will only give you so much information. Having real life experience shooting a Glock will help you fill in those gaps. This is why that real life experience is still very important. For example, hitting the release mechanism for the Glock’s magazine requires you to stretch your fingers around the grip of the gun, particularly if you have smaller hands. In order to hit it with enough pressure for the magazine to drop is rather difficult with shorter fingers.

User manuals will allow you to identify the specific vocabulary, and give you a clear idea of how the gun works. As a bonus, this is the best tool to learn how to break something. If you want to learn how to throw a kink in the scene for your character and cause problems, check out the user manual. They tell you a lot about vulnerabilities and issues with devices. In my opinion, user manuals tend to be the most reliable source of information for a lot of things.

I hope this helped! Message me if you need anything. I’d be glad to talk about trauma medicine if you need specific details on realistic injuries.

#penguin replies #writing advice #writing stuff #creative writing #advice for writers #how to write

[writerystuff]

NOT NEW, STILL GREAT

• An Oxford comma walks into a bar where it spends the evening watching the television, getting drunk, and smoking cigars.

• A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly.

• A bar was walked into by the passive voice.

• An oxymoron walked into a bar, and the silence was deafening.

• Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”

• A malapropism walks into a bar, looking for all intensive purposes like a wolf in cheap clothing, muttering epitaphs and casting dispersions on his magnificent other, who takes him for granite.

• Hyperbole totally rips into this insane bar and absolutely destroys everything.

• A question mark walks into a bar?

• A non sequitur walks into a bar. In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly.

• Papyrus and Comic Sans walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Get out -- we don't serve your type."

• A mixed metaphor walks into a bar, seeing the handwriting on the wall but hoping to nip it in the bud.

• A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.

• Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They converse. They depart.

• A synonym strolls into a tavern.

• At the end of the day, a cliché walks into a bar -- fresh as a daisy, cute as a button, and sharp as a tack.

• A run-on sentence walks into a bar it starts flirting. With a cute little sentence fragment.

• Falling slowly, softly falling, the chiasmus collapses to the bar floor.

• A figure of speech literally walks into a bar and ends up getting figuratively hammered.

• An allusion walks into a bar, despite the fact that alcohol is its Achilles heel.

• The subjunctive would have walked into a bar, had it only known.

• A misplaced modifier walks into a bar owned a man with a glass eye named Ralph.

• The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.

• A dyslexic walks into a bra.

• A verb walks into a bar, sees a beautiful noun, and suggests they conjugate. The noun declines.

• A simile walks into a bar, as parched as a desert.

• A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to forget.

• A hyphenated word and a non-hyphenated word walk into a bar and the bartender nearly chokes on the irony.

#grammar #grammar humor #advice for writers #things to watch out for when you write

[erraticprocrastinator]

Random writing advice: If you want to add realism but struggle with it

Some of the best advice I can give for writing realistic characters and plot points is asking your non-writer friends for help. Ask them “how would you handle this situation?” or “what kind of reaction would you expect from someone going through this?”. It doesn’t sound like much, but talking to someone who isn’t in a narrative mindset can be so helpful if you’re aiming for realism. Once you’ve been writing long enough it gets so easy to just do what works for the dramatics, what fills out the plot, and sometimes consulting with someone who isn’t thinking like that can really provide a fresh perspective and help you anchor your story. I don’t always aim for a fully realistic plot but when I feel like I need some direction I let my non-writey best friend read it over and give suggestions on the parts where I may have taken some creative liberties. It’s helped me improve my story on more than one occasion.

#writing #writeblr #writing advice #writer advice #writing community #writers #fanfic writers #advice #writers of tumblr #advice for writers

[confessionsofaromancereader]

how to gain inspiration for writing! ♡

{these are personal ways how i gained inspiration to write, so hopefully these methods can inspire you too!} - going for walks - this was a main one for me since i love nature and plants and stuff haha. this enables you to allow your surroundings to influence what you write and for some reason this makes my writing more lighthearted. this also is beneficial if you do it at different times or day, good for atmospheric reasons - reading - this is a fairly obvious one, this doesn’t mean reading a whole book. just reading one paragraph of your favourite or even a random book can give you ideas such as setting, structure or even character development - watching things - watching shows/movies that are the same genre of what you’re writing is always a good play. personally, i’m not too fond of watching tv often, but watching kdramas are always good for me especially since i write lighthearted romance. This helps with scenery settings and how characters interact with each other. - use your daily life - though to you, your daily life may seem boring, you can use some aspects of if into a great character. you could use your house as where your character lives or even your friends as characters. if you want your book to be realistic, this is a great starting point if you haven’t got any ideas! - use a prompt - this is more so if you don’t have an idea but you want to write something. this could be your main piece or your side piece to practice your writing! you can find these online and it is a great way to gain inspiration quickly as it’ll most likely give you one sentence and hour imagination does the rest for you!

{if you’d like any more like this, don’t be shy to ask!}

#writing #writing techniques #writing tips #writing advice #otpwriting #writing prompt #promts #writing inspiration #writing help #advice for writers #helpforwriters #novel writing

[dreamy-conceit]

Create dangerously, for people who read dangerously. … Writing, knowing in part that no matter how trivial your words may seem, someday, somewhere, someone may risk his or her life to read them.

— Professor Edwidge Danticat

#advice for writers #advice for artists #writers on writing #quotes about writing #edwidge danticat #haitian-american writers #female writers #authors #black writers #feminist writers